Mandy Knowles thought her delivery driver husband Matt had sustained a simple fall while washing his van in January. But the dad-of-three, aged 26, from Cradley Heath, suffered brain damage. Mandy tells Anuji Varma how his accident has drastically changed their lives.

It was Matt’s second day back at work after the Christmas break and he was rushing to get ready because he’d woken up late – as usual.

‘Love you my angel,’ he said and kissed me goodbye.

Later that day I texted him at 2.14pm saying: ‘How you getting on?’

He replied: ‘Just washing the van.’

I texted him back: ‘So much for an early finish,’ and left it at that.

Just over an hour later, my phone rang and Matt’s number flashed up.

‘Hello,’ I said, expecting to speak to my husband.

But it was his boss’s voice, Gary Khan, that I heard.

‘Mandy,’ he said frantically. ‘Matt has had a fall and has banged his head, first response are with him now, I’ll call you back as soon as possible.’

Minutes later Gary called me back.

‘The ambulance is with him now,’ he said. ‘It’s a bad bang, they are taking him to Heartlands Hospital.’

I told him that I was on my way.

Gary gave me some more details about what had happened.

He said that he and Matt had been washing Matt’s transit van, one either side.

Then Gary heard a bang.

When he went round to check what had happened, he found Matt on the floor, clutching his ribs.

Gary said he bent down to check Matt over but Matt was all over the place – and didn’t recognise Gary at all.

Then he saw a small spot of blood on the back of Matt’s head, and phoned 999.

I rushed to Heartlands Hospital, in Bordesley Green with my daughter Kristie.

When I found Matt, he was lying down holding his head and being sick.

Matt Knowles in hospital.

I said ‘hello’ but got no response.

The medics had to take him in for a scan, but had to sedate him first.

Within an hour a doctor came in and told us it was bad news.

Matt had fractured his skull in three places and had a bleed on the brain – all from just a simple fall.

My initial thought was, ‘he’s going to die’.

Kristie broke down crying. Matt was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Edgbaston, to undergo emergency surgery.

After more than seven hours in the operating theatre, he was taken straight to critical care. Afterwards they said if they hadn’t got him into theatre in another half-an-hour he would have died.

Kristie and I were able to spend some time with him, but when I saw him I couldn’t believe my eyes.

His face and neck was so swollen, there were tubes coming from everywhere.

I could not believe that this was all from a simple fall.

I put my arms round my daughter and we just cried and cried.

I was numb and felt physically sick. There wasn’t a single bruise on him and he hadn’t broken any bones.

It was his head that had taken the full impact of the fall.

He was in a coma.

Matt spent four days in critical care and was then moved onto a special ward.

He still hadn’t woken up.

Doctors didn’t know when he would become conscious again, or what he would be like when he woke up.

It was all a waiting game.

What we did know was that Matt could move his arms and legs, but we were unsure if he would be able to speak again.

One of my worst fears was that he would wake up and not know me or our children, Tammy, Kristie and Liam.

Then we had a breakthrough.

Matt had told a nurse to ‘get lost’ after she gave him painful stimulation.

‘What a relief, he can speak,’ I thought.

And then there was more good news – later the same day he opened his eyes and said, ‘hello’.

The rest of the day he slept.

But the following day there was more progress, Matt was more awake.

He knew who me and Kristie were, but he kept repeating the same things over and over again, asking ‘where am I, what happened?’

I visited Matt everyday over the next few weeks. He was in an emotional state. He would cry all day asking to go home. Anytime anyone came to his bed he would say, ‘Can I go home please?’

The medics told Matt that he needed to go to a unit for further rehabilitation, but he didn’t want to go.

Then, on January 19, he discharged himself – against doctors wishes and despite having Post Traumatic Amnesia (PTA).

‘Oh well,’ I thought, ‘the worst is over. Let’s get him home and take care of him, things can only get better’.

But how wrong was I?

The days that followed I remember saying, ‘I’ve brought home a different person.’

Matt had gone into hospital as my husband, the man who had planned every meticulous detail of our wedding in August last year, and had come out a stranger. He couldn’t cope with family life – with me or the children.

He couldn’t control his emotions. There were constant outbursts of aggression and verbal abuse.

We did not dare to make a noise, because that would set him off.

He would go through a range of emotions so quickly, from crying to shouting to swearing.

Every day was a struggle.

We stayed away from each other as much as we could.

Matt remained in our bedroom, whilst I hid away in the kids’ rooms.

We all tiptoed round the house trying not to disturb him.

Matt’s first follow-up appointment came in March – that’s when I realised that Matt had a catalogue of problems.

He was suffering from noise intolerance and he couldn’t even stand the sound of a drawer shutting.

Then there was the obsessive compulsive tendency.

Matt had to make sure everything was in its place, constantly checking doors were locked, curtains were in the same position, labels were the right way round, and even the DVDs couldn’t be out of place.

Matt Knowles with wife Mandy on their wedding day.

He had to make sure we’d wash our hands all the time.

He had short term memory loss too, anger dyscontrol, fatigue – he slept for up to three hours during the day.

He was also suffering from physical problems, and was treated for blurry vision, a loss of feeling in his right hand and the pain in his shoulder.

Physiotherapy has helped him.

But his eyes aren’t good. He can only just see in front of him and that’s blurred. Experts cannot say whether this will improve.

And there is still a lot of swelling and bruising on his brain.

After three months on an emotional rollercoaster Matt was finally medicated in April to help calm down his brain activity.

This has helped him a lot.

But his life has significantly changed.

I think the worst thing for him is his eating.

Because the impact of hitting his head pushed the brain forward there’s a lot of bruising to his frontal lobes.

This means that he has virtually no smell and has gone off food.

I can count on one hand the things I can feed Matt.

Almost everything tastes disgusting to him and he gags on it.

The only thing he can drink is Lucozade Sport – nothing else.

He goes to hospital four days a week for rehab, he constantly needs encouragement to get out of bed, and some days he just won’t get up and will refuse to eat anything.

Every day is a challenge for Matt – and for us as a family.

We can no longer do anything together and nowadays it’s just me and the kids.

Matt used to do everything with his kids, but now he keeps himself to himself – he hasn’t even the energy to kick a ball about with his son.

It is heartbreaking watching my husband suffering everyday with even the simplest tasks ending in tears.

We all accept he will never be the same as before. He looks completely normal but that simple fall has changed his life forever.

But we will continue, as a family, to face every challenge thrown at us – even though we know it will be a long journey to recovery.

Life-saver

Matt Knowles’ sister is raising money for Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital to say thank-you for the life saving treatment her brother received on a neurological ward there.

Cheryl Hart, 29, of Stourbridge, started her fund-raising campaign after witnessing Matt’s recovery.

She has organised a host of events.

“The QE saved my brother’s life that day and I need to show my gratitude to them and the only way I can think is by raising as much money as possible for the neurological ward,” said Cheryl.

“I have many fund-raising events set up and would be grateful for any support.

“I’m so proud of how Mandy has coped with the new challenge in their lives. It’s hard for Matt but its also hard for her and the kids, as they have had to cope with the changes as well. Matt’s recovery is a long journey and I will support them all as best as I can.”

* The first event will be held on July 6, at the Pro- vidence Methodist Church, in Colley Gate, Halesowen, between 10am to 1pm. There will be a cake sale, clown, face painter, and a raffle.